Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are different from yams. If you go to walmart, they don't make that distinction, because in the south, sweet potatoes and yams are considered the same. But they are very different. Winco has both kinds...sweet potatoes and yams. Sweet potatoes are the pale yellowish root-looking potatoes. Yams are the red/orange root potatoes that are often canned under the name of sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potatoes

3-4 large sweet potatoes

1 cube butter

Canned milk if needed

Do yourself a favor and do not try to peel these before you boil. What a colossal pain that is. Wash them well and cut into 3"-4" sections. Boil in a pot of water for about 30 minutes until a fork pierces the center easily. Drain carefully. Peel the hot potatoes at this point by slitting one side with a sharp knife and pulling the skins free.

Place a cube of butter in the bowl and plop the peeled sweet potatoes on top of it to melt it. When they are all peeled, mash them with a masher and blend them up with the butter. You can use an electric mixer if the potatoes are a little stringy or lumpy, but usually a masher works well. Add canned milk a tablespoon at a time if the potatoes appear dry. These kinds of potatoes can vary in consistency...different crops can be dry or moister, depending on the growing conditions.

Keep warm until ready to serve. The flavor of these is like a slightly sweet mashed potato but not as starkly sweet at candied yams. Yes, I make both on holidays....my husband likes the yams and me and my daughter like the sweet potatoes. Enjoy!

Candied Yams

Mashed, candied yams like Trent's mom used to make. Can be made before hand, just don't add the marshmallows until they are reheated and ready to serve.

2 cans Princella Cut Sweet Potatoes in light syrup (29 oz each)

1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup condensed milk

mini marshmallows

Drain potatoes but don't rinse. Mash in a 4 qt saucepan. Add melted butter, brown sugar, and canned milk. Cook on low/med stovetop until sugar is dissolved and incorporated. Don't be afraid to use an electric hand mixer to mash and blend, these can be slightly lumpy and stringy so an electric mixer is the way to go.

Place into a serving dish, a casserole, or foil pan (the round foil ones like they give at Bajio's work perfect.) Cover with foil and bake at 350 or so until the potatoes are heated through. Cover with a layer of mini marshmallows and bake until the marshmallows are puffy and very slightly browned.

Grandma Helen's Cheese Soup

As I've mentioned before, I didn't appreciate my first mother-in-law as I should have, she was an incredible babysitter for my daughter Shea! And, among other talents, she was a great cook and had great recipes and I learned so much from her....her cheese soup was fantastic! The only problem was, I was a naive twenty-something when I knew her so I never really appreciated her as I should have. Regret.

BUT...sadness aside...this cheese soup is her recipe, Helen Gertrude Henrie Gohr's. And let me tell you it has caused riots...there was an actual documented kidnapping over this recipe. It involved a ladyfriend coffee cup, gagged and tied I'm sure, held for ransom until this recipe was divulged to a very shrewd relative, of whom we will not identify. She knows who she is :)

Cheese Soup

4 russet potatoes

2 large carrots

1 large onion (I use sweet a sweet onion)

water

1 or 2 bricks velveeta (32 oz each)

1 pint half and half

Peel and shred carrots, peel and shred potatoes, peel and shred onion. I use a salad shooter to shred it all...works great.

Place in a stew pot. Cover with water, to about 1/2 inch above the vegetables. Do not add salt! Bring to boil and keep at a low simmer until vegetables are completely done, about 20 - 30 minutes. Turn heat down to very low.

Add cheese. Grant uses one brick, and the soup is delicious but a bit thin. I use about one-an-a-a half bricks for my big pot. You can always thin it with more water. Cut velveeta cheese into 1/2 inch cubes. Gradually add to the pot with the vegetable mixture. This soup should never boil after adding the cheese, boiling will ruin the texture. Keep cooking on low, stirring frequently to incorporate the cheese to make a creamy soup. Add half and half as a thinner if needed.

Delicious. Thanks Grandma Helen.

Peppermint Pistachio Chocolate Bark

This is a CUTE gift! Easy, we're talking a couple of steps, some chilling time, and the kids can help. I plan to do these for neighbors and co-workers this year. Oh, and it's delicious, my kids couldn't stay out of it tonight. Success.

2 bags Milk Chocolate Chips

2 bags White Chocolate Chips

4 regular size candy canes

about 3/4 cup Pistachio nuts (shelled) (Winco bulk food, of course)

Line a cookie sheet (preferably a jelly roll pan) with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with a light coat of Pam (y'know, or the cheap stuff from Winco. Whatever!)

Melt milk chocolate chips in the microwave. I did 50% power (medium) in a glass bowl for one minute, stirred, then did another minute. After that do 15 second intervals until it's nice and melted, stirring each time.

Spread the milk chocolate onto the tin foil in a sheet with a scraper or a spatula, I used this **awesome** scraper thing I have that has a flat edge. A thin even layer just about filled a full jelly roll pan, not quite but pretty close. Try to get it even, working quickly because the chocolate will start to cool. Put the pan in the refrigerator. It will take 45 mins to an hour to set up.

While you're waiting for the first layer of chocolate to set up, smash the candy canes inside a ziploc bag. Don't quite pulverize it, you want a few "crunchable", recognizable pieces. Set aside.

Chop the pistachios with a knife on a cutting board. Set aside.

After the milk chocolate has set up well, melt the white chips the same way. Pour it IN LINES on top of the milk chocolate, meaning pour it all out at once so you can spread it, but pour in two or three lines to keep the heat distributed so you don't melt the milk chocolate too much. Quickly quickly quickly use a spatula or the cool scraper edge thing (that I have!) to spread the chocolate evenly over the milk chocolate. You MAY have some bleed through here with the milk chocolate, but a little is ok. Just work fast, because you want the white chocolate on the top...not a big deal if it's a bit swirled though. It's just prettier if the white stays on the top.

Sprinkle the crushed candy canes onto the white chocolate layer first. Then sprinkle the chopped pistachios on the top. When the chocolate cools a little, press the peppermint and pistachios into it, so it is firmly in the chocolate. Refrigerate until firmly set, 2 hours at least.

Break the chocolate into pieces. You can do this by breaking with your hands or cutting with a sharp knife. Pack into gift boxes! I used the chinese take-out style cartons at JoAnn's fabric for 80 cents each with some tissue paper. Cute, cheap gift for family and friends!

Shea's Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm not a chocolate chip cookie fan. I know, how Un-American is that? But...my family is. I just never found a recipe that I was interested enough to make, poor deprived family. So, Shea took charge. Last year she found a "recipe in a jar" gift that she made for everyone for Christmas. We made the cookies and they were so good! I know this is on every post I type.....but it's......wait for it......Trent's favorite :) Thanks Shea!! Oh, a note about the margarine...DON'T use butter here (wait, have I EVER said that before?!!?) Use margarine..oh that's painful to say...but true. Use room temperature margarine sticks, much better cookies are the result. But just for these! Ow. Ok, better now.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 - 3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp soda

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar lightly packed

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup margarine, softened ( one and a half sticks)

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups chocolate chips (you can use 1/2 choc and 1/2 white chips for fun)

Mix flour, soda, salt, brown sugar, and sugar in a bowl. Add room-temperature soft margarine, egg, and vanilla until it's a dough consistency. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop onto ungreased cookie sheets in heaping tablespoon-full sized portions. Bake 350 for 12-14 mins.

Note to self: Trent likes 14 mins...it's a crunchy/chewy texture he preferred to the 12 min soft cookie that I did first.

Makes around 2 dozen.

To do the recipe-in-a-jar gift:

Place brown sugar in the bottom of a jar, then the flour/white sugar/salt/soda, then on the top put a cup or so of chocolate chips. (I added more when we made them). Add a tag with directions to add one and a half sticks of margarine, an egg, and a tsp vanilla. Bake 350 for 12- 14 minutes.

Flaky Pie Crust

Pie Crust

First pie crust I’ve tried that wasn’t the pre-made kind, and it is very good. Highly recommended for sweet pies. This is the recipe for a single crust pie, double this for a covered pie. The refrigeration chill time is 4 hours, so plan accordingly. Don’t skip the refrigeration process, as it is necessary for the gluten to develop.

Keep in mind that a pie crust is flaky because of tiny pockets of cold butter that melt during the cooking process. It’s important to keep this cold and not overwork the dough. Run hands under very cold water before kneading to preserve cold temperature.

1 ¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
½ cup butter, very cold and diced
¼ cup ice water/vanilla…place 1 tsp vanilla in measuring cup, add very cold water to make ¼ cup total.

In large bowl, combine flour,salt, and sugar. Cut in very cold, diced butter with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add water, one teaspoon at a time, and toss with a fork, until all the water is incorporated. There should be small bits of butter visible. Run hands under cold water, then gather the crumbs into a flat ball, kneading only a little. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Roll out on lightly floured surface, and line pan with the bottom crust, fill with pie filling. Make an egg wash with 1 egg and a few tablespoons water, beaten together very well. Brush edges with the wash and add top crust. Crimp, fold, or decorate edges as desired. Don’t forget to cut a few vents. Bake as directed by pie recipe.

Pie tip: I always cover the outside edge with a gently pressed on lining of tin foil and let it the pie bake halfway and then pull the foil off so the edges don’t burn. Also, I egg wash the top of the pie with a light layer and sprinkle sugar on top before baking, looks pretty!

Million Dollar Fudge

Use a big pot to make this hot mixture.  I also tried this last night and this particular fudge is not temperamental when using metal. I used a metal bowl and a metal pan to set it. It was fine. Refrigerate several hours before cutting into neat squares, it has to be set very well before it will cut, use a hot knife.

Million Dollar Fudge SINGLE RECIPE

Makes one 13x9 baking dish about half full
23 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or coarse chopped chocolate
1 jar marshmallow crème (7 oz)
4-1/2 cups sugar
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. very good Mexican vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt

Million Dollar Fudge DOUBLE RECIPE

Makes one 13x9 baking dish very full, I prefer to make this thickness of fudge.
2- 23 oz bag semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or coarse chopped chocolate
2 jars marshmallow crème (7 oz each)
9 cups sugar
2 cans evaporated milk (12 oz each)
4 Tbsp. butter
2 tsp. very good Mexican vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt

Butter a 13 x 9 baking dish.  If desired, line with parchment paper and butter the parchment paper lightly. 

In a large bowl stir together chocolate and marshmallow crème. Set aside. In a 4-qt or bigger saucepan, mix sugar, milk, and butter. Over low heat, gradually bring mix to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves, scraping down the sides if necessary. Boil for 6 minutes while stirring constantly without touching the sides of the pot, use the hot mixture to melt itself off the sides.  Pour hot mixture over the chocolate mixture in the bowl. Add vanilla and salt. Stir until smooth. Spread into buttered pan. Cool in refrigerator until set.

Sausage Gravy

This is my take on a Paula Deen Milk Gravy recipe, but I add sausage. It's so good. I bake Grands Biscuits from the pop-open tubes for biscuits and gravy. This makes enough for 2 or 3 people, I will double it for more.

1 package Jimmy Dean hot sausage, browned and drained
1/2 cup bacon grease (reserved from the last time you cooked bacon! Never throw that stuff out)
2 Tbsp Butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups warmed milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Seasonings: ground thyme, cayenne pepper, ground rosemary, and Accent

Heat grease and butter and whisk in flour. Cook on medium heat until the raw flour smell and taste has cooked out, stirring constantly. It should be smooth and bubbly. Add milk slowly and stir it in, continue stirring until the gravy thickens. Add sausage and season with the seasonings...start with 1/4 tsp of each seasoning and add more to taste. I usually season with about 1/2 tsp of each spice listed. Serve over warm biscuits.

Texas Taco Chili

I got this recipe from my sister Dani. Great crock pot meal that's fast to make, then cook 3-8 hrs in the crock pot on low. Great for parties, makes a full crock pot and serves a lot of people.

2 lbs ground beef
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 bell pepper, diced (optional)
2 cans pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans navy beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
2 cans black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 package frozen corn OR 2 cans of corn
2 cans diced tomatoes, either italian or mexican style
2 packages taco mix
1 package ranch dressing dry mix


Saute the beef and onion, drain off some fat if necessary. Add the taco mix and stir until well combined.
In the crock pot, combine all the ingredients along with the beef/onion mixture, stir well to combine. You may want to add a cup or so of water or broth to bring to the consistency of chili or thick soup. Cook on low for 3-8 hours for flavors to blend.

Top with whatever you like: Cheese, sour cream, diced onion, hot sauce, cilantro... and serve with warmed tortillas.

Apple Butter

**Updated for less spices, when Shea and I made it we toned 'er down a bit.

Apple Butter: A jam-like condiment that is a combination of apples and spices. It is called a "butter" because in the old days when the cows gave less milk and cream in the winter, they had to have something else besides butter to use on breads and toast. So, the wives would take the excess apple crop and make "apple butter". There is no butter in it...it's like a very thick applesauce type jam with spices. Trent's favorite!

12 cups apple puree (see below)
7 cups white sugar
1/4 cup Cinnamon
2 tsp. Ground Ginger
2 tsp. Ground Allspice
2 tsp.  Ground Nutmeg
1 tsp. Ground Clove
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup Clearjel mixed with 1/2 cup of the apple puree

Mix all, bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes to thicken. Bottle in hot sterilized jars leaving 1/2 inch head space. Seal and process in water bath for 20 minutes. Will keep up to ten years.

Apple Puree:
I slice apples in half and boil them on my camp chef propane stove outside for an hour or so or until they are soft. Then I put them through my victorio strainer which takes out all the seeds, stems, and peels and gives out just the pure apple puree. Easy!

Holiday Stuffing

I make my own stuffing for holiday meals. My motto for stuffing is, you pretty much can't season stuffing enough. Dedicated to my Grampa Harper who LOVED sage...would tell my mom "Oh just go ahead and put more sage in there." I like small chunks of vegetables, so I cut them very fine. If you want larger onion and celery, just chop into larger pieces.

This is for a LOT of stuffing as I usually cook for between 15 and 20 people. Half it if you want.

2 bags stuffing bread cubes, the large bags at winco
2 cubes butter
2 large onions, diced very fine
1 celery bunch, cleaned and chopped very fine
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 Tbsp dried sage
1 Tbsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp dried parsley
2 cans chicken broth

Heat butter in a skillet or stockpot and saute onion and celery until very soft but not browned. Place bread cubes in a large bowl and add all the spices and toss well to mix. Go ahead and add the little seasoning packet that comes with the bread cubes too. Toss it all together and pour the cooked celery/onion/butter over the seasoned bread cubes. Add 1 full can of chicken broth and toss. Test the dryness and flavor by tasting and add more chicken broth if it's dry and more seasonings to taste. I always end up adding a little more of all the spices and I will use both cans of broth, sometimes a little more. I like a moist stuffing so I use broth to the point of sort of a partly saturated stuffing bread, but not soggy. Just don't go too overboard with the broth. You can also add apples, raisins, walnuts, whatever, but if I did that, my husband would freak and ask me if I just turned into a granola-muncher.

Stuff some in the bird if you want. The rest goes into a baking dish into the oven to warm it through, probably 325 degrees for 45 minutes.

Caramel Corn

This is the best caramel corn recipe I have ever tried! It is from my sister Rae, I don't know where she got it! Very good soft caramel popcorn. Can be shaped into popcorn balls that stay soft for days.  SELF:  This amount covers one giant silver bowl full of popped corn.  Pop the corn then use the same pot to make the caramel or it will boil over.

4 cubes butter
4 cups brown sugar
2 cups regular karo syrup

Boil to soft ball stage (bring to a boil, boil three minutes), remove from heat.
Add:

2 cans of sweetened condensed milk
2 teaspoons vanilla.

Pour onto a large bowl of kettle popped popcorn. (Don't try air popped or microwave popped, it doesn't work, it kind of disintegrates!)

Thick Spaghetti Sauce

This is for my brother in law, who hates spaghetti. He can tolerate it this way, but only about once every couple of weeks. So my sister asked me to post this so she can remember the stuff in it. This is a complete no brainer, cook the meat, open the cans, heat it all up and boil the noodles.

Sauce:
1 pound hamburger, browned and drained
1 pound italian hot sausage, browned and drained (optional)
2 cans Hunt's or Del Monte Spaghetti sauce
1 can medium olives
2-3 cans mushrooms
1 can italian style or mexican style tomatoes
Chopped Pepperoni if you have some on hand

Heat all together to a boil while boiling water for spaghetti noodles. Serve with garlic bread and cottage cheese. Easy.

Homemade Pasta

When my husband's mom passed away, we were sorting her things and I found a hand crank pasta machine. Decided to try my hand at making homemade noodles just last year, wow... it's fun and so delicious. I think it would be hard to do if I didn't have the machine, because it sheets the pasta into uniform sheets that are the same thickness then I change where the handle is and it cuts the sheets into fettuccine noodles. I make these noodles to go with the Chicken and Noodles recipe on this blog and the Alfredo Sauce recipe here. It is so much better than dried pasta! This makes 1 lb of dough, which is enough for one big fairly large pot of noodles. I can't wait until my nephew is here and he can help me make pasta...he will love it!

Simple Pasta Dough:

2 cups plain flour

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs at room temperature

I use my food processor for this. Put the flour and salt in the processor and zing it together. Add the eggs and zing it around until the mix is combined and just barely coming together. It will look crumbly. Turn it all out onto a lightly floured board and squish it all together into a ball. Knead until it is nice and smooth, this takes 5 minutes, sometimes more. It should not be sticky at this point, if it is, add a little flour and continue kneading. Wrap in plastic wrap and leave on the counter to rest for 1 hour. Roll in batches through the sheeter, I trim the rough edges off and re-roll them. Feed the sheets through the cutter of the machine. Noodles!

This pasta takes a while to cook to where my husband likes it, which is more than al dente. I like firmer pasta, but he doesn't, so it take s about 15-20 minutes for this to cook to the tenderness we can agree on. But even fully cooked, this pasta has a texture that is so much better than any dried pasta, it's so good.

Bread Dipping Oil

Think Johnny Carino's style here. Good stuff. This makes a really cool gift for the holidays or a housewarming. I bought small bottles with corks one year and filled them with this dipping oil. Gave them to my family and friends along with a loaf of french bread and some roasted dried garlic to serve with the oil, just like they do at Carino's. Oh, and call me if you need the garlic, I bought a big canister of it...still have over half of it left.

This is for one gift...you can double, triple, quad this for however many gifts you are making, or adjust for the size bottles you are using. Keep in mind the best way to buy the spices for this is in bulk food at Winco, much cheaper than the bottles you find on the baking aisle.

Dipping Oil:
1 tbsp. dried rosemary
1 tbsp. dried parsley
1 tbsp. dried oregano
1 tbsp. dried thyme
1 teaspoon Red pepper flakes (optional)

Mix all spices and add to 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil. When serving, swirl the bottle to shake up the spices and drizzle over the roasted garlic pieces on a plate. Sprinkle the oil with a little salt and dip the bread in it. Very good stuff.

Oh yeah, and this makes a good marinade too, especially for wild game. I had deer steaks out and ran out of marinade. I saw a half bottle of this bread dip in my cupboard and thought "what the heck..." It is now mine and my friends' favorite game marinade.

Sugar Cookies

Growing up it was a tradition at our house to frost and decorate Christmas Cookies. All our cousins would come over and we'd all frost angels, christmas trees, ornaments, stars, santas, whatever cookie cutter shapes my mom had. Mom carried this tradition on with her grandkids, and I carried it on with my kids. It's fun, and this is the best roll-out cookie dough recipe I have ever used. My mom's! Makes a good cookie to frost and decorate. I always double this, but here is the basic recipe if you don't need quite as many cookies.

Sugar Cookies, Rolled
Makes about 3 Dozen

1 Cup Sugar
½ Cup Butter or Margarine (I use butter, of course!)
1 Egg
1 Tsp Vanilla
½ Cup Milk
3 ½ - 4 Cups Flour
½ tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Baking Soda

Cream together butter and sugar in mixing bowl. Add egg and vanilla and mix.Mix 3 1/2 cups flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda together in a separate bowl. Alternately add dry ingredients and milk, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Form dough into a fat roll, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours, up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 350. Roll dough out on floured surface using a floured rolling pin to about 3/8”. Cut and bake on ungreased sheet for 10-15 minutes. (I start at 12 minutes and then check every minute.) For soft cookies, don’t allow them to brown, bake for 12-13 minutes.


Buttercream Frosting

1 cube butter, softened
½ bag powdered sugar (two heaping cups)
1 tsp vanilla
2 Tbsp milk

Blend all together and add more milk, ½ tsp at a time. My mom liked a bit thinner icing for these, it was easier for kids to spread. Divide into small bowls and color with food or paste color.

Slow Roasted Turkey

I learned how to cook a turkey from my first husband's mom. Probably the one thing I regret is not telling her how much I learned about cooking from her. She was an awesome cook.

Keep in mind a few things with this turkey. This is NOT a pretty-Norman-Rockwell-Dad-Carves-the-Turkey-in-front-of guests-beautiful-golden-brown-turkey-on-a-platter. No. In fact, I don't even know how to do that. This is a super-moist-fall-off-the-bone-if-you-lift-it-out-of-the-roaster-you-pretty-much-just-get-the-bones-out kind of turkey. It is very delicious and the only kind my husband wants me to cook anymore.

Thaw that thing! Make sure you remember a couple days in advance to get the turkey out of the freezer and into the fridge to thaw.

Give yourself 10 hours or so for a huge turkey and adjust the time down for smaller birds. If we are planning the Thanksgiving meal at noon or 2 pm, which is what we usually do, I get everything ready the night before, set my alarm for about 2 am, turn on the turkey roaster oven and go back to bed. I also am fully aware that some people don't like to cook a turkey for this long and at this low of temperature, but I have been cooking turkey this way for 15 years, it's just such a GREAT turkey. You can do a half hour of HOT cooking at the end to make sure all the meat is at the necessary temperature if you are concerned about the low cooking temp.

Slow Roasted Turkey:
Rub a fully thawed turkey all over with butter, inside and out. You can also use olive oil instead of butter. Season cavity with salt and pepper. You can stuff the cavity with a quartered onion and some celery stalks, or traditional stuffing if you want (see notes below on stuffing). Rub the outside skin of the bird with a mixture of 2 tsp salt, 2 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp poultry seasoning. Double the seasoning if it's a HUGE mother trucker of a bird.

I always use a turkey roasting oven that sits on the countertop to roast the turkey because I need my oven for other stuff all day. Place the turkey breast side down in the roasting oven on the roasting rack. Place the lid on and turn the oven temperature to 250 to 275 degrees ( I think I usually do 275 and turn it down to 250 if needed). Cook that sucker for 8 hours at that temperature, basting often, at least once per hour. About an hour before you're ready to serve the meal, turn the oven up to 400 and cook for 30 minutes, watching it very closely. Turn it down a little if it's just too hot. (I'll be honest here, I don't usually do this...that bird is cooked after 8 hours, but if you're germ-o-phobic it will make you feel better.) Transfer the meat to a warmed turkey platter and serve.

***Notes on Stuffing.....to stuff or not to stuff? I'm a stuffer. But this cooking method makes the stuffing a very moist, very sloppy stuffing because of the constant basting, but it's a very GOOD stuffing when it's done. It all depends on what your family likes. I serve stuffing two ways every year...the stuffed-stuffing and the not-stuffed-stuffing. I fill the turkey with my stuffing recipe and I also bake a separate casserole dish full of "unstuffed stuffing" for people that don't like the super moist in-the-bird version. So that's the stuff on stuffing.

Dutch Oven Version:
Same thing, put in a dutch oven sealed TIGHT. Probably max weight for a turkey in a dutch oven is about 16-17 lbs. I have a 16 inch dutch oven and I have to CPR that bird to get it in the dutch oven and my husband still has to use vice grips to keep the lid on tight until it cooks down a little. Replace coals all day to keep the dutch oven at a low temperature for 6-8 hours. Great camping meal, my friends beg for it every time we go.

Turkey or Ham Gravy

Holiday time is approaching! Heeeeeere's Gravy!

Keep in mind this does not look like restaurant yellow turkey/chicken gravy. It is a darker brown and much better tasting.

You can do the whole “boil the neck” thing…but I don’t. It takes forever, uses up your saucepan which you always need for something else when you're cooking a holiday meal, and then you have to pick pick pick the small amount of meat off. I think this was a “depression” thing where they used every bit of meat they had, God bless 'em!
I also don't use any "innards" in gravy...but you can cut up the heart and liver and add it if you want. I choose not to, I use drippings and shredded dark meat as my base for turkey gravy.

Turkey Gravy:
Take as much of the turkey drippings from the turkey roaster to get the amount of gravy you want. Err on the side of too much gravy, especially if your turkey ends up a little dry. Try to skim off some fat, but leave some fat in, I wish I had one of those separators. Taste it, if it’s too salty, dilute with water (it usually is not too salty at this point, usually I have to add salt) Put it in a saucepan, bring to a boil. Add dark meat shreds, shredded quite fine. If you have a decent sized turkey, just pick the meat off of the back area, shred it and put in the gravy. TASTE IT again. Add thyme, poultry seasoning, salt, onion powder, pepper if needed. Add chicken broth if you need to stretch it. Taste taste taste, taste again! It should taste like slightly strong, yummy gravy because you are going to dilute the flavor a little by thickening it. Two mistakes people make: 1) Not making it strong flavored enough with drippings and spices BUT…. 2) don’t over-salt it. So it should taste good like you want the gravy to taste but slightly strong because you’re going to dilute it a little. Mix cornstarch with water, I start with about ¾ cup cold water and put 2 heaping tablespoons cornstarch in the water, mix well, for my 4 qt saucepan full of gravy. Add the cornstarch mixture to the gravy, boil to thicken, if you need it thicker, do another 1/4 cup cold water with one tablespoon cornstarch.

Ham Gravy:
Have a plan beforehand when it comes to ham. Do you want gravy or are you serving something other than mashed potatoes? If you want potatoes and gravy, you have to strain off the ham drippings BEFORE you glaze the ham. You don't want honey gravy. Bleh.

Baste your ham one last time, then drain off the drippings into a saucepan. Taste the drippings and add chicken broth or water to dilute the salty flavor. Ham is salty. Ham gravy is salty. But you have to dilute the ham broth somewhat or it's waaaaay too salty for gravy. Taste it, add pepper and accent if needed. You can add some thyme if you want and maybe one drop of liquid smoke. Taste taste taste, it should taste like strong gravy flavor, but watch the saltiness. Depending on how much gravy base you have, thicken as needed with cornstarch/cold water mixture. Start with ½ cup cold water with one heaping tablespoon cornstarch. Boil to thicken. If that's not thick enough, do it again with 1/4 cup water with one tablespoon cornstarch and continue from there.

Trent's Frank Stroganoff

When Trent and I were dating, he kept saying he wanted to make me dinner and make Frank's Stroganoff. I saw a steak in the fridge at his house so I kept thinking the stroganoff was made traditionally, with the steak. Then he made it for me and I was shocked, I won't lie. It is not Frank's Stroganoff, it's Frank Stroganoff, and not named after my brother-in-law. It's actually made with hot dogs. Now wait a minute! Before you judge a book by it's cover...or a recipe by it's strange choice of proteins...believe me, this stuff is really good.

1 large onion, chopped

16 oz. package sliced fresh mushrooms, rough chopped

olive oil for sauteeing

1 full package hot dogs (best are beef hot dogs), sliced. Trent slices them pretty, all diagonal and fancy!

3 cans cream of mushroom soup (the normal size small cans)

Large tub sour cream (24 oz)

1 Package of wide or extra wide Egg Noodles

Saute onion, mushrooms, and hot dogs until the onions are soft. Add cream of mushroom soup and stir until soup is warm. Add half the sour cream and stir to combine, heating through. Add more sour cream to taste, Trent uses the whole thing. Warm through, keep on a low simmer while you boil your egg noodles. Serve sauce on top of the noodles.

If you want the sauce more thick, use Trent's mom's trick and add a brick of cream cheese, it thickens this nicely. And, you know, a little more fat thrown in there never hurts.

You can serve this over rice as well...it's good that way too.

Trent is making this for us tonight, it will make three full meals for us...serves at least 6.

If someone is so inclined, try it with beef strips, like a tenderized round steak sliced very very thinly across the grain. I would saute the steak first until just barely browned, remove, then saute the onion and mushroom, add the beef back in and continue with the recipe. Sounds so good, let me know if you try it.

Antipasti Salad

Good salad to take to parties. ..this was enough for 20 people. Makes a lot, can be halved for smaller groups. I took this to a picnic and served it with bruschetta and baguette bread, with slices of honeydew and cantaloupe melon.

Salads with pasta will soak up dressing fast, so I always put the dressing on it just before serving. Lesson learned this time: I mixed the dressing the night before and put it in a jar in the fridge, it was fine, BUT do not put it in a cooler with ice...the olive oil will solidify (did it.) But remember you can run the jar under hot water and get the oil to 'melt' back to it's correct consistency. Whew.

6 cups dry pasta. I used mini raviolis I found at Winco in bulk food. It is stuffed with parmesan cheese and it's good!

2 cans medium olives (drained)

2 jars marinated artichoke hearts (drained)

2 jars sun dried tomatoes (I used the dry packaged kind at Winco and chopped them then soaked in a little olive oil...way cheaper and very delicious)

Sliced banana peppers to taste (I used about 3/4 cup, drained)

3 cans sliced mushrooms or 1pkg fresh sliced mushrooms

1 each red, yellow, green bell pepper, chopped

3 cups chopped or sliced meat...pepperoni, salami, ham, whatever. I used these cute little mini pepperonis from Winco

Cook pasta, rinse and cool. You can toss in a little olive oil to keep it from sticking. Toss with all the salad ingredients except the dressing and the meat and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Dressing:

1 1/2 cups olive oil

3/4 cup red wine vinegar

3 tbsp dried basil

3 tbsp dried parsley

3 tbsp dried rosemary

1 tbsp fresh minced garlic or 1 teaspoon garlic powder

3 tbsp parmesan cheese

1 tsp salt

red pepper flakes to taste (I used 3 packages of the dominoes kind lol!)

Mix and shake all together in a quart jar or bowl. Best if made a few hours in advance or the night before. To Serve, add the meat to the salad then shake the dressing very very well and toss into the salad. I kinda winged this for our picnic trip...it turned out great and everyone liked it. Looked impressive and was filling enough for lunch. Enjoy!

Halloween Witch Fingers

Hilarious! Great Halloween Party Food.
**I get all these ingredients except the peanut butter and gel in the bulk food at Winco. Much cheaper than buying packaged**

Peanut Butter Clay:
1 cup creamy peanut butter
Up to 2 cups powdered milk (will use probably 1 cup to start then more if needed)
1/2 cup honey

Look at the powdered milk first. It it looks like crumbs or if it is a little "chunky", break it up in the bowl first and get it nice and powdery. Mix in the peanut butter and honey. Mix all to a play-dough like consistency adding more powdered milk if too sticky, more honey if too dry.

Fingers:
About 40 regular sized pretzel sticks (bones)
Slivered Almonds (fingernails)
2 Tubes Red Gel (blood)

Make the fingers by rolling the clay with your fingers into little cylinder shapes of dough and pressing it around a pretzel stick, covering the pretzel completely. Use a spoon and make little rounded cuts to look like knuckles. Place a slivered almond on it for a fingernail. Continue and make all the fingers you can until you run out of peanut butter clay. I can usually get 35-40 if I make them a little skinny! Place the fingers on a tray or cutting board, or whatever you are serving them from. Dab red gel on the "stub" of each finger to look like they've been chopped off.

This is great served on a big platter along with a meat cleaver or big knife that has some red gel on it, looks like the fingers are freshly severed. When your guests eat these, it's like chomping into a finger bone, it's really funny.

Chicken and Noodles

4-6 Chicken Breasts (or leftover chicken)
1/4 to 1/2 Cup Chicken Soup Base (Winco, Bulk Food)
4-6 Stalks Celery (finely chopped)
One Meduim to Large Onion (finely chopped)
About 3-4 cups Sliced Carrots
1/2 to 1 tsp Thyme
1/2 to 1 tsp Poultry Seasoning
1/8 tsp Cayenne (optional)
Frozen egg noodles or fresh pasta egg noodles (I don't recommend dried pasta for this.)

Boil chicken breasts to cook them (I use broth or soup base to cook them in, but I discard it after and use fresh to start the soup, there's too many chicken floaties in it). You can also use leftover chicken, canned chicken, any kind of chicken you have on hand. Just make sure it's cooked and shred it into large chunks, set aside.

Saute the onion and celery in a little oil in a large pot. When they are soft, add the thyme, poultry seasoning, cayenne and the Chicken Soup Base powder (it's more like a dry paste) and a little water. Stir that all into a mixture so the base is incorporated then add a few cups of water at a time until you have the pot about 3/4 full. Add in the chicken and the carrots. Boil this until the carrots are almost done. Add more water if it's too salty, more base if it needs more chicken flavor.

Add the noodles, either fresh or frozen, and cook until the noodles are your desired tenderness. Keep in mind that there's a lot of stuff in this, so it's not very "soupy"...more like a stew.

** I like homemade pasta for this, but sometimes it's not feasible. The best noodles for this are in the frozen food section. My favorite are "Grandma's" at Albertsons. There's also a package at Winco, it's in a green bag package. They are ok too. Thaw them a little and break them up before adding to the pot.

Ham

HAM! Love ham. I had four calls from family members this Easter.."How do I cook my ham? The same way I cook a turkey?" The answer is Nooooo!
Just remember that ham is waaaay different than turkey because ham is pre-cooked and cured. Whether it is smoke cured or honey/sugar cured, it can be eaten directly from the package cold. Therefore, all you want to do with a ham is heat it through. My family hates an overdone ham!

I always buy a spiral sliced honey ham with a glaze packet. I heat the ham through at 325 degrees for 2 hours, check it, and usually go another hour. Then I glaze it.

I have tried a few different glazes and always come back to one that I made up. Take the glaze packet and empty into a bowl. Add up to a cup of brown sugar, a pinch of cloves, maybe a little allspice, and about a quarter cup of pineapple juice. Mix up to make a sort of paste. Baste your ham with the juices in the bottom of the pan, then remove most of the "ham juice". (Reserve it for your gravy OR freeze it in ice cube trays to use later in recipes as ham broth).

Smear the glaze paste all over the ham and return to the oven for at least 10 minutes. It will heat up and melt and will ooze down into the spiral slices.

If anyone has figured out a crunchy glaze, let me know. This paste glaze is what I came up with while trying to make a crunchy glaze that stays crunchy on the ham surface, but I haven't been successful.......YET. :) Happy hamming.

Sausage Dip

No one has ever accused me of being a healthy cook. Probably ain't gonna happen so...on that note, here is an artery clogger. Great party dip.

2 "chub" packages Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage

3-4 brick packages cream cheese (8 oz).....I use 4, because this is usually for a football party and I need a lot of dip.

One red pepper, chopped very fine

One regular sized container sour cream


Cook the sausage and crumble it, drain off the fat. Put it back in the skillet and add the red pepper and cook just until the pepper starts to soften a little.

Put all that in a crock pot set to low, add the cream cheese bricks and about a half cup sour cream to start. Stir together when the cream cheese starts to soften up. Cover and check every little bit and add more sour cream until it's a "dippable" consistency. I usually use the whole container of sour cream, to "cut" the thickness of the cream cheese. Takes an hour or so to heat all the way through, so start it a bit early for your party.

Serve with tortilla chips. Tostitos scoops are the best.

Crock Pot Tips

Easy Easy Easy Crock Pot recipes, my favorite kind of dinner...the one that cooks itself while I am at work! Tips for "crock potting"...

•USE THE LINERS. I cannot stress this enough. The cleanup involves peeling the liner out of the pot and chucking it and wiping out the pot. Available at grocery stores, probably near the foil packets or the saran wrap and tin foil displays.

•If you're in the kitchen anyway, like cooking tacos or spaghetti or something...make TOMORROW's dinner in the crock pot (like a pot roast or pork roast) and put it in the fridge overnight. I mean, you're in the kitchen anyway, so why not? Take it out in the morning and turn it on and it cooks all day. Two meals handled at once, your husband will think you're a freaking genius.
•I've found that it's okay to use either frozen or thawed meat in most of the crock pot recipes I will post (like pot roast and pulled pork and green chile chicken tacos). I often start with frozen solid meats, turns out great as long as you have ALL DAY to cook it on low. I start mine at about 7:30 am.

•Just expanding on the last tip, and this is a "take it or leave it" tip (meaning you should take it or leave it but I've been doing it for years)...I leave the frozen solid meats out all night inside the crock. I put all the ingredients together in the crock pot, including the frozen meat, onions, seasonings, whatever, and leave it on the counter! OH HORRORS!!! But the frozen meat keeps the other ingredients cold enough as it thaws and never once have I made anyone sick. Yes, it's okay to cook from frozen solid (above tip) but I prefer the meat to be at least somewhat thawed and this does the trick. If your meats are already thawed, put the ingredients together the night before and put the removable crock part of the pot in the fridge overnight if you've made-ahead for tomorrow.

•Crock Pot setting Low is always preferable if you have all day, unless of course the recipe tells you different. General rule of thumb: If you don't have 8 - 10 hours....use high for 6 hours and then go to low. Less than 6 hours is usually not enough time to cook meats to the proper tenderness that I like.

•Resist the urge to constantly lift the lid on the crock pot. I read somewhere that it takes 30 minutes to re-capture the lost heat/steam/cooking ability for each time you lift that lid. So, stir the meal every once in a while but otherwise, let it cook without lifting the lid.
Anyone else have any other tips they'd like to share?

Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork

Could this be any easier or yummier? Uh....nope. (and pretty dang cheap too, to feed a crowd). I'll write this recipe for a crock pot, but you can also do this in a dutch oven when camping. I've also supersized this and made it for 50 people in a catering setting, I used a big portable turkey oven. Makes a great casual meal served with baked beans, chips, and potato salad.


One pork roast, however large you want, depending on how many people you are feeding

2-liter bottle of either root beer or dr pepper (store brands are ok)

One onion, quartered (optional...ok if you don't have one)

1-2 bottles of barbeque sauce (I use Famous Dave's or Sweet Baby Ray's. Kraft is ok too)


Place the pork roast in the crock pot along with the onion. Pour the pop in over the roast until it's well covered, about an inch over the roast. You may or may not use all the pop, depending on the roast size.

Put the lid on and cook on low for 8-12 hours...meaning, it will be cooked through and acceptable at 8 hours, fall apart delicious at 10 hours, and still good at 12 hours if you get delayed at work :)

Pull the meat out and discard the liquid (pop). You can keep the onions if you want, but I usually throw them out too. Pull the meat apart with a fork and shred it. Return to the still-warm crock pot. Add 1-2 bottles of barbecue sauce, to your desired consistency.

Cook on low until warmed through (30 mins to an hour), stirring occasionally.

Serve on warmed sandwich buns.


TIPS: Tips for this recipe...if you have a lower quality bbq sauce like Kraft, you can use things to season it up like cayenne, jalapenos, brown sugar, and honey to taste.

I fry the sandwich/hamburger buns for this recipe (and all hamburgers that I serve) with margarine and garlic. Spread margarine on the bread and sprinkle with garlic salt and fry buttered side down for a few minutes in a frying pan until toasted and golden.

Chicken Fried Steak

Chicken Fried Steak
Used Food Network's Alton Brown recipe and adjusted slightly....Really really really good...

4 1/2" thick round steaks
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 cup flour
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 c. vegetable oil
4 cups chicken broth
1 cup whole milk
1/4 tsp thyme (or more to taste)
1/4 tsp cayenne (or more to taste)
Hashbrowns or mashed potatoes to serve with steaks
Additional 1 Tbsp of vegetable oil for gravy and additional up to 3 Tbsp flour to thicken (below).

Get your potatoes on, whether they be frozen hash browns or mashed....get them going..unless they're instant mashed, you can do those last minute.

If the round steak is not in 1/2 inch cuts, fillet them to 1/2 inch steaks with the grain. Season both sides with kosher salt and black pepper. Place the 1 cup flour in a paper plate or pie pan. Dredge the meat into the flour on both sides. Then tenderize them with a fork/mallet combination (poke then beat the living crap outta them) or a needle tenderizer (which I wish I had.) After tenderizing, dredge the meat again in flour, then egg, then flour again. Do all the steaks and set aside, let them set up for at least 10 minutes (15 mins is better.)

Preheat your oven to 250. Warm the serving plates if you want at this time. Set up a wire rack over a cookie sheet to drain the cooked steaks on.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat until very warm (shimmering). Fry the meat in batches, two or three at a time without crowding them up. You will fry them between 3 and 4 minutes per side, getting the outside crispy and the inside cooked through. When they are done, transfer to the rack and place in the oven to keep warm until ready to serve.

Add another tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pan along with any fat and scraps left.  When all the meat is done. Over medium heat add additional flour, as needed. Whisk in, deglazing the pan. then add 2 cups chicken broth and whisk to combine the drippings/flour. whisk to smooth and add the other 2 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil to thicken. Add milk and thyme and cayenne. Taste and season as neede with thyme, cayenne, black pepper, and salt. If the gravy is too thin, use a cold water/corn starch mix to thicken.

Serve gravy over the potatoes and the meat.

Apple Crisp

My weekly produce basket had waaaay too many apples for us to eat so I took some perfectly healthy apples and made them into a perfectly unhealthy (but delicious!) dessert. Got this recipe online and I rate it very high. We loved it.

APPLE CRISP:

10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup water
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2.Place the sliced apples in a 9x13 inch pan. Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples. Pour water evenly over all.
3.Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together to form a crumb mixture. Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.
4.Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Pork Ribs

I hit a great sale on country style boneless pork ribs a while ago. Found a fantastic recipe, made it for the family. Then I lost the recipe. Trent threatened divorce unless I found it again. Ahh, I feel the love. Glad I found it so my husband will stay with me now. *pssshhh! whatever!* Who would feed him :) Love you honey.

Boneless Pork Ribs (also works with bone in Spare Ribs)

6 - 9 lbs pork ribs, boneless
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup salt
2 1/2 Tbsp black pepper
3 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne
2 Tbsp garlic powder

Combine these ingredients and rub liberally into ribs, place in roasting pan (do yourself a favor and use a disposable one). Cover and refrigerate at least 8 hours. Longer is ok too.

Preheat oven to 250. Bake ribs uncovered for 3-4 hours. Start the sauce (below), it has to simmer 1 hour.

Sauce:
5 Tbsp pan drippings
1/2 cup chopped onion
4 cups ketchup
3 cups hot water
4 Tbsp brown sugar
2-3 drops liquid smoke
1/2 tsp accent (optional)
2 Tbsp chili powder
To Taste, Add (what we add): Cayenne (1/2 tsp), salt (we don't add here), pepper (1/4 to 1/2 tsp) t

Remove drippings into saucepan, saute onion in pan drippings until brown and soft. Stir in ketchup, heat 3-4 minutes. Stirring constantly, mix in water and brown sugar. Season to taste with cayenne, salt pepper, liquid smoke, accent, and chili powder. Simmer one hour to reduce, add water if necessary to thin.

Grill ribs. This is the man's job, but what he tells me he does it heats the grill on high to dlean it and get it nice and hot, then scrapes it for anything left-over from last time, turns grill to LOW, sprays with Pam (careful here, we don't want any Micheal Jackson hair-flaming episodes here), puts the ribs on, bastes with lots of the sauce, cooks for 5-7 minutes, flips, resauce, 5-7 minutes. done....... Sticky, spicy, sweet ribs.

Alfredo Sauce

Pretty sure I just made my husband the happiest man ever tonight...no,not how you think...as usual, it was with food :) Long before Ragu came out with a bottled Alfredo sauce, his mom made it from scratch. He likes the bottled stuff okay for recipes, but really wanted the real stuff like his mom used to make. Of course, I did it. And, as testament, my husband says to me at dinner, "Well honey...as usual, you nailed it." Woot.

Alfredo Sauce:
1 pint heavy cream
1 stick butter
1-1/2 cups grated parmesan (yes, the bulk stuff at Winco worked GREAT)
Garlic (See Notes below!) **
Black pepper

Heat cream and butter on low until butter melts and mixture is getting warm. Add the garlic and pepper. Keep stirring with a whisk and slowly add a cup of parmesan cheese in increments. (Sprinkle about a quarter cup at a time on the cream mixture and whisk it in. Add more when it's incorporated.) Add cheese up to the 1-1/2 cups, you may not use it all, the cheese provides the thickness for the sauce, use the entire cup and a half if you want it nice and thick. The sauce will thicken slightly as it cools, but I used the whole cup and a half....(Have you met me? lol) Season to taste with more garlic or pepper if you wish.

You should NOT boil this sauce, it will scorch. But keeping it at a low-med temperature and whisking while the cheese melts is good. Serve over pasta.

** A note about the garlic: I did not use fresh garlic in this. If you DO use fresh, crush it and sautee it a little in butter first, it's a little too powerful when fresh. What I did use was the minced garlic in a bottle, you know the stuff, it looks like paste. I love that stuff. If you don't have that around, substitute 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder.


Okay! The cool thing about this is you can do anything with this sauce. I doubled the recipe and added two cans of minced clams and a can of shrimp. Fantastic. You can add sauteed vegetables for a vegetable alfredo. Add a grilled chicken breast (or really cheat and add a can of cooked chicken meat) for chicken alfredo. Add some crab meat and a couple of steamed asparagus spears for Crab Oscar. Grill a London Broil and slice thinly, and you got steak alfredo. Yummo.


I will be trying this with sun dried tomatoes and roasted red peppers for a sauce to rival Craigo's...tune in for results in a couple weeks! This stuff is just too rich to eat more than a couple times a month!

Free Online Cooking Videos

Free Online Cooking Videos
http://www.onlinedegrees.net/blog/2010/50-free-online-classes-for-food-lovers/



FREE ONLINE COOKING CLASSES! I will be checking these OUT! Nice!

Sauteeing, Braising, even Bartending 101.

Corn and Cream

This is my sister Rae's famous recipe for a delicious corn side dish. It's Corn with Cream. NOT to be confused with creamed corn, which is disgusting in my opinion! This is yummy yummy yummy, I get requests for the recipe every time I make it.

A Thanksgiving/Christmas staple dish at my house! This makes a very full 13x9 dish, can be halved if you don’t need that much.

48 ounces frozen baby kernel white corn or equivalent (three 16 oz pkgs)
1 Pint Whipping Cream
1 Pint Half and Half
2 Teaspoons Salt
½ Teaspoon Accent (optional)
4 Teaspoons Sugar
½ Teaspoon White Pepper or Cayenne
4 Tbsp melted Butter
4 Tbsp Flour or tapioca flour
About ½ Cup Parmesan cheese for topping

Thaw corn in the package in warm water before beginning or you end up with a frozen lumpy corn-sicle!

Mix Corn, Cream, Half and Half, Salt, Accent, Sugar, and Pepper together in a large pan. Mix Thoroughly and bring to a boil and simmer 5 minutes.

While simmering corn mixture, mix together the melted butter and flour. Add to corn and cook until the mixture is thick. Be careful not to scorch it.

Fold finished corn into a 13x9 casserole dish. Cover the top with a layer of parmesan cheese, as light or as thick as you like. I use an even layer that covers the corn about 1/8” thick.

Broil the dish under the broiler in your oven, watching it carefully. Broil until the cheese will browns a little but doesn’t burn!

Trout Two Ways

Caught a trout this weekend! Here's how to cook it, two ways. For both recipes, start with a cleaned, washed fish that's either been filleted or split open to lay flat. Keep in mind you can do this on the bbq grill in a disposable foil pan.

Sweet Trout (our favorite!)

Lay trout skin side down in a sprayed baking dish or tin foil disposable pan.

Slice an orange into circle or half circle slices and lay the slices over the meat of the fish. Coat the whole thing with brown sugar. The guy who told me how to do this said, "So, just when you think you have enough brown sugar, put a little more on there." So, I'd say for an average fish I put on probably 3/4 cup of brown sugar.

Bake until fish is done. We like our fish DONE, so I bake it at least a half hour until it dries a little and flakes. I like this served with rice.



Savory Trout (also good!)

Lay trout skin side down in a sprayed baking dish or tin foil disposable pan. Coat fish with a light layer of olive oil. Make a rub of garlic salt, parsely flakes, pepper, paprika, rosemary and rub it into the fish and lay onion slices over it.

Bake until fish is done. We like our fish DONE, so it bakes at least a half hour until it dries a little, and flakes. I like this served with au gratin potatoes.

Breaded Pork Chops in Gravy

This is one of my family's favorite meals. I usually make this the night before and put it in the crock pot, keep it in the fridge, then take it out and start it before I leave for work. When I get home, all I have to do is peel and mash potatoes to go with it, make a salad, and done.

Breaded Pork Chops in Gravy

4-6 pork chops or cutlets (bone in or boneless, doesn't matter). Not frozen, they have to be thawed.

Milk

Seasoned bread crumbs

2 family size cans or 6 regular size cans of cream of mushroom soup**

Rinse pork chops with water and pat dry. Place a small amount of milk on a plate or bowl, and some bread crumbs on another plate. Dip the chops first in the milk then dredge in bread crumbs. Heat some oil in a frying pan and lightly fry the chops on both sides so the bread crumbs are golden brown, this only takes about a minute or so on each side. Set aside.

In the crock pot, mix the soup with enough milk to make a gravy-like consistency, and mix well with a wire whisk. The more chops you make, the more gravy you'd want, so make enough gravy to coat and cover the chops in the crock pot.

Place the chops into the soup mixture and spoon it over to cover the chops completely. Cook all day on low. When serving, just "fish out" the chops, they fall apart, and serve it with mashed potatoes.

** If you love mushrooms, throw in a can of mushroom stems and pieces. If you hate mushrooms, you could do this recipe with any cream soup, cream of chicken makes a good gravy and so does cream of celery.

Trent's Favorite Baked Chicken

Trent does not generally enjoy chicken. At all. But he likes this, thank goodness!

All you need is a McCormick Bag n' Season Chicken foil seasoning mix.

Take a whole chicken and clean it, take out the giblets and cut off the tail and any fatty parts. Rub salt in the inside cavity. Place the chicken inside the cooking bag that comes with the seasoning mix. Pour the seasoning onto the chicken and rub it around so it coats the whole chicken. Put about a half cup of water in the bottom of the bag, seal it with the black closure thing that comes with the bag. Place the whole bag in your crock pot. Poke a 1/4 inch small slit in the top of the bag as a vent hole. Put the lid on your crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

This isn't necessarily a beautiful thing when it's done because it's fall off the bone tender, so I take all the meat off the bones transfer it to a platter to serve it. Great with stove top stuffing or something like that.

Chicken Broth

When cooking anything that's savory and boiled, it tastes better if you cook with chicken broth rather than water. I go through a lot of chicken broth because I use it in place of water for rice, boiled or steamed vegetables, and homemade stuffings. Also, you can substitute chicken broth for other liquids that you don't have like cooking wines (use a chicken broth with a half teaspoon of vinegar added) . I was buying chicken broth by the case three or four times a year!

Then, I learned how to make chicken broth from Ina Garten on the Barefoot Contessa. It's so easy, and I like having free chicken broth when I need it. It takes 5 minutes to set up, then you just cook it all day (or night) in the crock pot and then you need some ice cube trays to freeze the broth in.

Start with a chicken "carcass", the bones and stuff from a chicken you've had for dinner. You can use a carcass from a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store too. Put the whole thing in the crock pot and cover with water. Throw in two onions, quartered. Add three or so garlic cloves that are peeled and split (I just peel them then bang them with a knife to split the surface open). You can add some celery stalks if you have them. Add a teaspoon of salt and a half teaspoon of poultry seasoning if you have it, maybe more salt to taste if you prefer.

Boil all night in the crock pot. The next morning, remove the bones, vegetables, and everything from the broth, with a slotted spoon or seive. Ladle the broth into ice cube trays, set the trays on a cookie sheet, and freeze. When they're frozen through, pop the cubes out and store in freezer bags in the freezer. One cube is roughly 1/4 cup...but you can also nuke a few cubes in the microwave and measure if you need a more exact amount.

Yes...it's sort of a pain to do, but worth it to me!

It's also nice to have ice cube trays lying around in case you open a bottle of cooking wine and don't use the whole thing...pour into the trays and freeze to use later for sauces and recipes. Also, fresh herbs can be frozen the same way if you have some leftover and you know you're not going to use them. Cut or tear them into large pieces, place in ice cube trays, cover with water and freeze...use them later in cooked recipes.